A Noble's Trade
by Kashimalin
Summary: Ryuu's been the villain for as long as he can remember. Now, he's decided that he wants to be a different role, and the Drama Club is shocked. Tokiya agrees to a trade, and the two begin the struggle of playing a part they were not born into...


Nobody expected what would happen on March 18. It had been a perfectly ordinary day for the drama club, who were doing a stage direction rehearsal. Everyone was in casual clothes and holding scripts with pencils in hand, while Kurou shouted instructions on what he wanted to be done.

Then Ryuu put his script down. Nobody noticed for a few moments, until it was his turn to speak his lines. Tokiya glanced up, looking over his reading glasses. Kurou stood from his chair, and the stage was dead quiet, waiting for Ryuu to speak.

He took a deep breath, opened his mouth, closed it quickly, as if he had thought better of it. But then his shoulders dropped.

"I…" His voice, usually filled with the grandeur of a villain in his element, sounded small and meek. "I don't want to play the villain in this play."

The first to let out a breathless laugh was Kurou. "You're the star of villains! You play the role so well!"

Tokiya placed his script over his mouth to hide his smile. "It's a role that you're a natural in, truly. Haven't you been asked to play it in numerous productions for how good you are?"

"I don't want it anymore." Ryuu's voice was growing in volume again. "Let me do something else in this play, please."

"Ten-minute break!" Kurou barely managed to call in time as the other actors began to yell or mutter, and he bounced off his chair and hauled himself onto the stage, pulling Tokiya and Ryuu to the wings.

"What's up, Ryuu?" he asked, concern in his eyes. "Are you feeling well?"

"Quite," he muttered in response as he glared at a passerby who was trying to eavesdrop on the conversation. "Don't make me repeat myself a third time."

"Then who _will_ play our villain, if you don't, Ryuu?" Tokiya lifted his reading glasses to rest atop his head. "You're very good at acting, to the point you're difficult to find a replacement for."

Kurou mulled on it, but the solution was too obvious… he was just worried that neither boy was going to like it.

"Is there a _chance_ …" he began, speaking slowly as he gauged their reactions, "That you two could switch?"

The silence was almost deafening, as the two boys stared Kurou down before turning to each other. Tokiya lifted his chin slightly. "Would you want to play the hero?"

"Anything but the villain."

"…Shall we trade?" Tokiya held out his script, as if it was an offer for a handshake. Ryuu stared at it, eerily silent, and Kurou was almost sure he was going to reconsider. But instead, he held out his script in return, taking Tokiya's in his free hand. "Done."

Kurou let out a breath he wasn't aware he had been holding. Nobody could predict what would come off this arrangement. He called rehearsal to a close, telling the lead actors to go and learn their new lines. He went home with Ryuu, watching the other boy pour over the script, flicking through pages and making notes over the ones that Tokiya had written in. He could only watch, worrying slightly over what would be happening at tomorrow's rehearsal, where both of the boys would be out of their element entirely.

* * *

Everyone in the drama club was distracted the next day. They were all watching the two main actors on stage, occupying different roles on opposite sides of their usual spots. And the entire exchange was side-splitting hilarious, but people were stifling their laughs. Nobody wanted to see Tokiya's face drop, or Ryuu's glare to aim itself upon them. They all knew better than that.

"And you, hero, shall face my wrath!" Tokiya swung his arm out in a dramatic arc, but his voice was still heroic and noble, his tenor tones warm. Kurou felt like calling it to a stop again, but resisted.

"Engarde, hero—sorry, sorry, evil fiend—"

" _Cut_." Kurou finally clapped his hands once, standing and walking up to the stage's edge. "Take it again. Ryuu, don't apologize. Are you both sure you want to continue with this agonizing—"

" _Yes_ ," Ryuu said, his tone stiff and forceful, to the point nobody wanted to oppose it. Kurou nodded once, used to Ryuu's personality. "All right, go ahead, Tokiya."

"And you, hero—" Tokiya's voice had pitched a bit lower, getting a grittier tone, "shall face my wrath!"

Ryuu paused a moment, having been briefly convinced of Tokiya's villainous self, but then saw his face, with a princely smile and sparkle, and that effect was lost instantly.

"Engarde, evil fiend; we end this here."

They held out mock swords, and skipped a few lines, moving to the conclusion, where Tokiya collapsed to the ground.

"This won't be the end, for me…" He was clearly attempting to look pained, but instead, looked akin to a hero refusing to give up. "I will end you."

Ryuu's smirk was triumphant, but in the wrong sense – he looked as if he was a villain that had finally beaten the hero, rather than the other way around. "I'd like to see you try."

" _Cut cut cut_." Kurou pulled his hands down his face, stretching skin as he did so and pushing his glasses askew. "The two of you are staying late for rehearsal. We've got to work to make this scene more gripping, more compelling! And both of you need help. Let's move to the intro scene, everyone, I need the supporting cast and ensemble."

Ryuu growled in frustration as he went next to Kurou, but as he did so, couldn't help overhearing a very excited Ai coming up to Tokiya.

"Tokiya, you're doing great!" His voice was bright, but Tokiya gave a halfhearted laugh in response. "I wouldn't agree with you, on that one."

"Don't worry, if you're concerned about the audience loving you, I'll just have to shoot more arrows into the crowd and make them support you and love the villain!"

Ryuu wanted to spin around and hit the pink-haired boy over the head with his rolled-up script, but resisted the urge and stalked over to Kurou, settling on the ground next to him and muttering that he was going to win this competition.

"What competition, Ryuu," Kurou said, with a sigh.

"This one that the foppish prince has declared. He's not going to win by being the best villain ever. I will come out on top as the hero."

Kurou felt like heaving another sigh there and then, but instead focused his duties on going over the beginning of the play, trying to push his best friend's frustrations aside. However, since said source was sitting right next to him with a pout on his face, he merely tried to comfort him when he could, saying it would take time and they had plenty of it.

"It won't come soon enough," Ryuu could only say.

* * *

 _That pompous, arrogant, son of a—_

Kurou could only guess at Ryuu's thoughts as he watched his shadowed face on stage, trying to get over the fact that Tokiya had just delivered his lines flawlessly. There was a perfect, dark timbre to his voice, an alluring, villainous smirk on his face. No wonder he had stayed up late last night and come in with two coffees this morning. How long had it taken him to perfect that?

Despite the elegant way he had delivered his lines, Kurou could still tell there was a hero underneath, a person who wanted to do the right thing. But he couldn't deny he had put far more effort into it than Ryuu had.

Not that he would say that to his face. He knew better than that. However, Tokiya was sliding into the role of a villain, and Ryuu was making no progress. Kurou couldn't just ask them to trade back; not after how determined the president was to show how good of an actor he could be at playing the hero. But the robotic motions and forced lines of Ryuu's were beginning to be almost more painful than he could handle.

He had his head in his hands when the café girl arrived, carrying with her the orders of coffee and placing them near the side of the stage. Kurou waved her over with a finger to his lips, as Tokiya and Ai were rehearsing their part on stage about scheming to kill the prince. Tokiya was seated in the chair often reserved for Ryuu, occupying it in a similar fashion – one leg swung over the arm of the chair and head resting on his hand, listening to Ai recite his lines with a smirk.

"How's the trade going, Kurou-senpai?" she asked, taking a spot standing next to him.

He could only sigh, lifting his head to watch Tokiya on stage. He knew he was flawless, but seeing him sitting like that made him wonder briefly, but the thought escaped him before he could focus further on it.

"It's not going terribly well," he complained. "But, I'll think of something."

She gave a small laugh. "It's actually a little amusing, if you ask me. Watching Ryuu attempt to emulate his character in the café the past couple days has been… interesting. I think it's even scaring people more. But Tokiya seems to be doing really well."

"Hmm." Kurou stared at Tokiya on stage, trying to get that thought he had earlier back. His fingers laced together and he rested his chin on them, trying to determine what was nagging him.

Suddenly, Tokiya moved his leg back down, and Kurou realized it. _He had been sitting exactly like Ryuu._

Tokiya was a good actor, nobody could deny that – not even Ryuu, on a good day. However, he was simply never the best at playing the villain. He had tried it at his first audition, one that Kurou remembered quite well. But when asked to play the hero, he had proven where his heart and mind lay in acting, and that was what made him who he was.

But Tokiya had a skill that even he might not be aware of, but now it was making itself shown. He was copying Ryuu – his walk, his poses, his mannerisms… even down to a few of his words and ways of speech.

"He's not playing the villain," Kurou breathed. "He's playing Ryuu."

"Come again?" Kurou had almost forgotten she was there.

"Nothing, nothing. Come on, everybody! Time for a coffee break!" He waved a hand, calling everyone on stage to relax and settle down for a few minutes.

"Hey, Kurou." The first-year grabbed the back of his vest before he had a chance to walk away, and he turned to face her. "Yes?"

"I think that you can help them resolve this… but you'll have to think of something fast. They need to be in roles they're comfortable in, and I think you have it in you to give them what they want."

Kurou stared, for a moment, before nodding. "All right! If you say so! I'll do my absolute best." His reassuring grin and flick of his glasses was a little over the top, but she had faith in that he would do the right thing.

* * *

Later that evening, Kurou and Ryuu were going home together again. The second half of rehearsal hadn't been much better than the first half – if anything, Tokiya had only proven his ability to act like Ryuu was genuine, and Ryuu was having trouble accessing the role of the hero. And he let it be known that he was frustrated at himself and at Tokiya.

"I don't know who he thinks he is," Ryuu growled, "but he sees himself as such a wonderful, excellent, awesome actor, and it's irritating."

Kurou swung an arm over Ryuu's shoulders as best he could, practically dangling off his friend. "Now hang on a second, you're doing all you can too! There's no shame in having a bad day… or week… or—"

"I will personally see to it that your chair collapses in on you tomorrow if you keep that up."

Kurou paused a moment, but then gave a smirk and pointed at Ryuu with a teasing glint in his eye. "You wouldn't do that to me, would you Ryuu?"

"I would without hesitation. Just like how I will not stop until I can get my revenge on Tokiya and surpass him."

Finally, Kurou let go of Ryuu's shoulders, swung around so he was walking backwards, and took a good look at his friend. Then he began to notice his features, and how he held himself. This entire role exchange was weighing down on him; and it was clear that Tokiya's performance today had been a final nail in the coffin.

"Hey, hey, listen." Kurou stopped Ryuu with a hand to his chest, having him pause as he looked up from the ground to listen to his friend.

"Do you really think you can do this? Don't object!" he quickly said, putting a finger to Ryuu's lips. "Listen. This is clearly taking a toll on you. I think you need to find the hero in yourself this weekend, really do some thinking, and if it's there, tap into it and find it."

With that, silence followed, and Ryuu went home, pulling his script out of his bag and looking at it. All the notes he had made, all the points he wanted to reference, and commitments he wanted to make to the role…

It almost seemed useless. He was a good actor, but even the best of actors have roles they cannot play. But upon reflecting on his desire to get revenge on Tokiya, what did that say about him? That he was meant to be a villain because he acted like one?

 _No, that's not it._ He wasn't a bad person… it was from a role he had played in middle school for the first time, where he had received outstanding reviews – a prodigal actor, one who could convince the audience of his true desire to stop the hero at all costs. Was there a chance he let character after character, role after role, script after script, consume him?

The script in his hands seemed fresh when he looked at it again, but instead of reading the prince's lines, he read the villain's – feeling instantly at home.

* * *

"Here we go!" Kurou swung two scripts out at both Tokiya and Ryuu on Monday afternoon, just before rehearsal, with the two giving him astonished looks.

"What are these?" Tokiya asked, giving a sigh as he had to dig around for his reading glasses again.

"Revised scripts. I'm changing the whole play. I mean, we'll keep similar plot points, but I'm gonna change the story."

"You're _what._ " Ryuu's tone was flat as he skimmed the synopsis and lines, his eyes widening when he realized what it was.

"Look, hear me out, this is great! The two of you were an absolute inspiration for this story. Think of it… switched at birth, the son of a villain and the son of a king…!" Ryuu and Tokiya both watched with deadpan looks as Kurou acted out the scene before them.

"The villain prince, who has grown up in a castle where he feels outcast, due to what he likes and how he has developed, but does not want to shame his father so he runs away! Then the princely villain, who was taught magic and raised by the evil wizard as his own son to dismantle the kingdom, but his heart is too golden and pure to let that happen so he too, runs to the forest, where they boys meet and believe themselves to be switched, leading to a wonderful friendship!"

The silence after was interrupted by a snort from Ryuu and a laugh from Tokiya, who both couldn't help it as Kurou stared at them with such a determined look in his eyes at making this play happen.

"You realize you're still putting us in our old roles, right?" Ryuu said, and Kurou nodded. "Yes, that's the point. The roles you are meant to play. I think you should both stick with where your strengths lie."

"I agree. It will be so wonderful to play the prince to your villain again, Ryuu." Tokiya gave him a smile, and Ryuu flashed a small one in return, but it was quickly replaced with a lift of his chin and a playful smirk.

"I will still prove myself to be a better villain than you ever where."

"I accept your challenge!"

* * *

The days leading up to the official production were there before they knew it. Everyone had been ecstatic to hear Ryuu was coming back to be their star of evil, and Tokiya their heroic prince. But after the switch, their chemistry on stage seemed different – not one of malicious intent or confusion, but of mutual respect.

"Noble princes don't often venture into the woods." Tokiya, with no crown on his head and wrapped in a dark cloak, sat on a fake branch. The set on stage was of the forest between two kingdoms, and Ryuu looked around, peering through trunks and holding his sword out before him.

"Show yourself – I am no longer afraid of villains." Ryuu's lines were _perfect_ – Kurou felt tears coming to his eyes at the blend of noble prince and underlying menace.

Tokiya swung down from the tree, standing before Ryuu. The two stared, breaking character for a moment a smile to each other reassuringly, acknowledging how well they played their roles before continuing the scene.

This play had bonded them together, and Kurou couldn't be prouder. He gave a small clap and cheer to himself, much to the confusion of the nearby tech crew, and watched the rest of the dress rehearsal with a happy smile on his face.


End file.
